Well...............The Play Opened Last Friday...Every person that have seen it has said the same two things: INTENSEand the actor playing me didn't 'capture' " Jody" at all.But that's fine with me.....it's about the message, not me...http://journalstar.com/entertainment/ar ... 03286.htmlReview as Follows:

In her play, Boesen tells the story of Amanda Thomas, the young Missouri woman who was brutally murdered by an abusive, violent boyfriend after repeated pleas for help from law enforcement.

However, "In My Daughter's Name" is not a play about the failure of the criminal justice system.

The sad truth is that the system does what it can, but which will never, on its own, be enough. It is really about society as a whole's failure to admit, and to effectively address, the ancient cycle of abuse against women.

The story is also autobiographical, in that it tells Amanda's story through the dramatization of the Boesen's interview with Amanda's mother Jody.

Boesen effectively illustrated, through her character Playwright, played by Sasha Dobson, the general reactions of many of us when we are privy to stories of such horrific violence: visceral anger, coupled with a suspicion that people to whom this happens are of a different type than us, and the secret fear of association with those who would teach us otherwise.

Jody is played with precision by Moira Mangiameli. Her Jody is familiar and accessible. She cleans people's houses for a living. A victim of domestic abuse herself, she left her own children to escape her abuser.

As she tells her story, the audience and the Playwright come to understand and resent the toll violence has taken on her family, and admire her for her fierce love for her doomed daughter.

Amanda is played by Lacey Hannan, whose performance is unstudied and real. She is so good, and so natural in her role, that we immediately accept her as Amanda and mourn for her from the start, knowing her tragic end.

Go see the play. Think about domestic violence. Talk about it. Then, when you have the opportunity, and there is a one in four chance you will have the opportunity, stand up and do something about it. ‎*the only clarification I would like to make is I did not leave 'children',I placed Amanda with a safe, loving family, with EVERY Intention of havingher live with me once My life was no longer in danger.Myriadcomplications and Mitigating factors prevented her Living with Me. So Iremained ever present in her Life; tr......ying to be the best mother I could be, while mourning the ability to raise her myself.I never relinquished custody--this was strictly a private arrangement. ***********************************************************************************************************************http://journalstar.com/entertainment/ar ... 03286.html

The new play Becky Key Boesen wrote took an emotional toll on her. The difficult birth of her second child took a physical one.

So it's no wonder Boesen draws some parallels between the two.

"All this totally made me re-evaluate life and death and loss," she said.

The Angels Theatre Company will present Boesen's "In My Daughter's Name" over the next two weekends. It opens Friday night at the Johnny Carson Theater.

The play is inspired by the life and death of Amanda Thomas, a 27-year-old mother of two young children. On Feb. 28, 2009, in Hannibal, Mo., Thomas was attacked while she slept and stabbed to death allegedly by her former domestic partner.

Their discussion focuses on memories of Amanda as a child and explores the events leading up to her death, including the system loopholes she encountered while trying to find help.

Boesen wrote the play to raise questions about awareness regarding domestic violence and to encourage dialogue among victims, advocates, law enforcement, first responders and community members.

Voices of Hope, the Nebraska Domestic Violence Sexual Assault Coalition and Hope Crisis Center are among the play's collaborating partners.

"(Becky) advocates for people who don't have a voice," said play director and Angels founder Judith K. Hart.

Boesen didn't intend to write a play about domestic violence, but "this story found me," she said.

She was six weeks' pregnant with her second son, Quinn, when she read Thomas' story on a Facebook page run by Thomas' mother.

"I was going to write a one-woman show and, in typical actor's fashion, it was going to be about me," Boesen said.

But she quickly changed her focus.

"It was more important for me to tell Amanda's story instead of working on a play as my own vehicle," she said. "After meeting with Amanda's mother, I felt an obligation. It would have been foolish of me not to tell the story."

Then life interrupted.

Boesen was diagnosed with preeclampsia, a blood pressure disorder in pregnancy, and was prescribed bedrest for the last half of her pregnancy.

After giving birth in January, she became worse. Her abdominal wall more or less collapsed. She underwent surgery in June to "have my body reconstructed."

While all this was happening, she continued to write. She finished the draft of the play in May, just weeks before her surgery. As she recuperated, she worked on revisions.

"Edward Albee can crank out brilliance with a first draft, but I've done rewrite after rewrite after rewrite. My trouble was developing an angle early on."

She finally found it by inserting herself, a young playwright with two children, into the play.

"Ultimately, I'm writing about mothers and their love for their children and how we fight to keep them alive," Boesen said. "Everything about Amanda's story accentuated my fears about Quinn in utero. There was a crazy parallel there."

Lacey Hannan will play Thomas, and Moira Mangiameli plays her mother. Sasha Dobson portrays the playwright.

I don't think any actor can truly "capture the essence of Jody" because it is too personal of an experience and grief can't be truly "acted". I have never met you, but I can feel the intensity of your writing, even if it is just to greet a newbie here.

I am sorry for your pain, and I hope this play not only helps get the message out there, but starts you on the path to healing.

iluvk9 wrote:I don't think any actor can truly "capture the essence of Jody" because it is too personal of an experience and grief can't be truly "acted". I have never met you, but I can feel the intensity of your writing, even if it is just to greet a newbie here.

I am sorry for your pain, and I hope this play not only helps get the message out there, but starts you on the path to healing.

Joyce totally said everything I wanted to say when reading your post. She literally took the words out of my mouth.

iluvk9 wrote:I don't think any actor can truly "capture the essence of Jody" because it is too personal of an experience and grief can't be truly "acted". I have never met you, but I can feel the intensity of your writing, even if it is just to greet a newbie here.

I've met her, she is just like that in real life - but more intense.

I hope this play helps you move farther along your healing path.

Michelle

Inside me is a thin woman trying to get out. I usually shut the bitch up with a martini.